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The Middle East and North Africa
Current situation:
2011 has seen a significant increase in internal clashes right from the start of the year. There has been unrest in all of Yemen’s larger towns and cities, leaving hundreds dead. The government has lost control over large parts of the country. Yemen’s President Saleh dismissed the government in March, following the resignation of several ministers.
How the domestic situation will develop remains uncertain for the time being.
In March 2011, the experts seconded to Yemen in connection with German development cooperation had to leave the country for security reasons. Because of this the BMZ took the step of deferring planned commitments to the Government of Yemen. Development projects that are directly benefiting people in need of support, especially in the areas of education, family planning and food aid projects, are to be continued for now and will be handled as far as possible through international and private organisations.
The Republic of Yemen is a relatively young country and has only existed in its current form since 1990. Prior to this date North and South Yemen were separate states for many years. Whilst the South was first a British crown colony and then a socialist people’s republic, the North was ruled by Moslem religious leaders or “imams”, and its society structured along traditional tribal lines. After unification, a short civil war broke out in 1994 between the two parts of the country. A common national identity has yet to emerge.
There are very few countries in the world which can boast such a long documented history as Yemen. The city of Aden is mentioned in the Old Testament, in the Book of Ezekiel. It was one of the centres of the West Arabian spice trade. In about 900 B.C., Yemen was home to the Sabeans, a people with highly developed engineering skills, who enjoyed legendary wealth generated by producing and trading in incense and myrrh.
That wealth, however, is now a thing of the past; today, Yemen is one of the least developed countries in the world. Nowadays, the country’s pressing problems include a difficult domestic policy situation, high population growth, severe poverty, water shortages, high levels of unemployment and poor education and health systems. Yemen’s oil and natural gas reserves will be exhausted in the near future. The people can no longer live on what the country’s agricultural sector produces. This means that dependence on imports is growing and living costs are rising. Dissatisfaction is running high.
Yemen regards the Federal Republic of Germany as a favoured western partner. Thanks to its continuous and reliable support for Yemen’s development, Germany enjoys an excellent reputation in Yemen. 2009 marked 40 years of Yemeni-German development cooperation. The main focus of bilateral cooperation to date has been on drinking water supply and sanitation and on basic education.
German Embassy

German Embassy in Yemen
P.O. Box 2562
Hadda
Sanaa
Republic of Yemen
Phone: +967 / 1 / 41 31 74
Fax: +967 / 1 / 41 31 79






